Hold the Dream (TV 1986)

Two-part, four-hour followup to "A Woman of Substance" with Deborah Kerr, now playing Emma Harte at age 80 in the last winter of her life and dealing with her granddaughter Paula, as well ... See full summary »

Director:

Don Sharp

Writers:

Barbara Taylor Bradford (teleplay), Barbara Taylor Bradford (novel)

Stars:

Jenny Seagrove, Stephen Collins, Deborah Kerr

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jenny Seagrove	...	Paula Fairley
Stephen Collins	...	Shane O'Neill
Deborah Kerr	...	Emma Harte
James Brolin	...	Ross Nelson
Claire Bloom	...	Edwina, Lady Dunvale
Paul Daneman	...	David Amory
Fiona Fullerton	...	Sky Smith
Suzanna Hamilton	...	Emily Barkstone
Nigel Havers	...	Jim Fairley
John Mills	...	Henry Rossiter
Liam Neeson	...	Blackie O'Neill
Pauline Yates	...	Daisy Amory
Valentine Pelka	...	Winston Harte
Sarah-Jane Varley	...	Sally Harte
Paul Geoffrey	...	Anthony, the Earl of Dunvale

Storyline

Two-part, four-hour followup to "A Woman of Substance" with Deborah Kerr, now playing Emma Harte at age 80 in the last winter of her life and dealing with her granddaughter Paula, as well as her respected advisor Henry Rossiter and Blackie O'Neill.

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Plot Keywords:

english nobility | trilogy | london england | older actors younger roles | mother daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

The Epic Sequel To Barbara Taylor Bradford's 'A Woman Of Substance'

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caminos de grandeza

Filming Locations:

Lee International Studios, Wembley, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bradford Enterprises, Portman Entertainment Group, Operation Prime Time (OPT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

195 min 120 min 195 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final performance for Deborah Kerr.

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Goofs

In the first miniseries, A Woman of Substance, Emma's parents, Elizabeth and Jack, died one year apart, ages 40 and 45 respectively, long before World War I, and long before Emma's first marriage. However, the death dates of Elizabeth and Jack were moved forward by about 15 years in "Hold the Dream," and their respective ages at death were reduced by six years each, from age 40 to 34 in the case of Elizabeth Harte, and from age 45 to 39 in the case of father Jack Harte. Since the story in "Dream" is wholly dependent on the preceding story in "Substance," the date and age changes render the time lines almost impossible, and totally implausible.

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Connections

Follows A Woman of Substance (1984)

User Reviews

Strong Seagrove, too many characters

Contrary to the feelings of some others, I wasn't taken back much by the fact that Jenny Seagrove plays the part of Paula Fairley here as well as of that of young Emma Hart in the first series; she acts both women evenly convincing. Seagrove as Emma Hart/Paula Fairley is the embodiment of a strong, willful and independent woman, smarter than all the men she works and competes with. And she adds to that an aura, as someone else here mentioned, of strange beauty. Liam Neeson as Blackie is remarkable. He can act an old man, although his young, large stature gives him away.

The beginning of hold the dream was quite confusing, nearly all the characters were introduced at once, so keeping track was rather hard. It must have been over a year or so that i have seen A Woman of Substance, which could partly explain my confusion. Still, i think a cheap 'what happened previously' block at the beginning would've hurt no one. As the film progresses, the puzzlement is lessened, although there are too many sub stories and insufficient character development. Fewer characters would've helped...